“Teach me what thou knowest, Ai,” he said humbly, “for, indeed, thou art a wonderful man.”
“Gladly,” replied Ai, placing his hand in loving tenderness upon the bowed head of the younger man. “Our destiny was foreordained from the beginning to work together for the upbuilding of humanity and the restoration of the race of our fathers. This little book shall teach your soul all that you long to know, and now grasp but vaguely. You believe in the Soul?”
“Most assuredly!”
“As a Personality that continues to live after the body perishes?”
“Certainly.”
“And that Personality begins to exert its power over our lives as soon as we begin its cultivation. Death is not necessary to its manifestation upon our lives. There are always angels near! To us who are so blessed and singled out by the Trinity there is a sense of the supernatural always near us—others whom we cannot see, but whose influence is strong upon us in all the affairs of life. Man only proves his ignorance if he denies this fact. Some in the country from which you come contend that the foundations of Christianity are absurd and preposterous, but all the prophecies of the Trinity shall in time be fulfilled. They are working out today by the forces of air, light, wind,—the common things of daily life that pass unnoticed. Ethiopia, too, is stretching forth her hand unto God, and He will fulfill her destiny. The tide of immigration shall set in the early days of the twentieth century, toward Africa’s shores, so long bound in the chains of barbarism and idolatry.”
Reuel listened entranced, scarce breathing.
“I was warned of your coming long before the knowledge was yours. The day you left your home for New York, I sat within my secret chamber, and all was revealed to me.”
“Ay, Ai,” Reuel answered, feebly. “But how?”
“You believe that we can hold communion with the living though seas divide and distance is infinite, and our friends who have passed to the future life of light are allowed to comfort us here?”